Banská Bystrica

Banská Bystrica (German: Neusohl, Hungarian: Besztercebánya) ( Slovak pronunciation (help·info)) is a key city in central Slovakia located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mountains. With 81,281 inhabitants, Banská Bystrica is the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia.^[1][2] It started as a permanent settlement in the 9th century and obtained the municipal privileges of a Hungarian royal town in 1255. The copper mining town acquired its present picturesque look in the Late Middle Ages when the prosperous burghers built its central churches, mansions, and fortifications. It is the capital of the kraj (Banská Bystrica Region) and the okres (Banská Bystrica District). It is also the home of Matej Bel University. As a historical city with an easy access to the surrounding mountains, Banská Bystrica is a popular winter and summer tourist destination.

Additional info

Árpád dynasty

The Árpáds or Arpads (Hungarian: Árpádok, Croatian: Arpadovići, Serbian: Арпадовићи, Slovak: Arpádovci, Turkish: Arpatlar) was the ruling dynasty of the federation of the Magyar tribes (9th-10th centuries) and of the Kingdom of Hungary (1000 or 1001–1301 and through 1946 matrilineally). The dynasty was named after Grand Prince Árpád who was the head of the tribal federation when the Magyars occupied the Carpathian Basin, circa 896.

Ľubietová

Ľubietová (German: Libethen; Hungarian: Libetbánya) is a village in central Slovakia. Originally an ancient mining town, it is known for precious minerals. It has less than 1,000 inhabitants.

Špania Dolina

Špania Dolina is a village and municipality in central Slovakia, near the city of Banská Bystrica. Although its permanent population does not exceed 200 people, it is a picturesque historic village situated 728 m above sea level and is surrounded by the Staré Hory and Veľká Fatra mountains. It has become a popular tourist recreation centre.

Žilina

Žilina ( pronunciation (help·info); German: Sillein, Hungarian: Zsolna, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around 200 kilometres (120 mi) from the capital Bratislava. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of around 85,000, an important industrial centre, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a kraj (Žilina Region) and of an okres (Žilina District).

Above mean sea level

The term above mean sea level (AMSL) refers to the elevation (on the ground) or altitude (in the air) of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio (both in broadcasting and other telecommunications uses) by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach. It is also used in aviation, where all heights are recorded and reported with respect to AMSL (though also see flight level), and in the atmospheric sciences.

Alba, Italy

Alba is a town and comune of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Cuneo. It is considered the capital of the hilly area of Langhe, and is famous for the white truffle, peach and wine production.^[1][2] The confectionery group Ferrero is based in Alba.

Armoured train

An armoured train is a train protected with armour. Usually they are equipped with railroad cars armed with artillery and machine guns. They were mostly used during the late 19th and early 20th century, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower into position. Their use was discontinued because modern road vehicles became much more powerful and offered more flexibility, and because armoured trains were too vulnerable to track sabotage as well as attacks from the air.

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau (French pronunciation: [aʁ nuvo], anglicised to /ˈɑrt nuːˈvou/) is an international movement^[2] and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century (1890–1905).^[3] The name 'Art nouveau' is French for 'new art'. It is also known as Jugendstil, German for 'youth style', named after the magazine Jugend, which promoted it, and in Italy, Stile Liberty from the department store in London, Liberty & Co., which popularized the style. A reaction to academic art of the 19th century, it is characterized by organic, especially floral and other plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly-stylized, flowing curvilinear forms.^[4] Art Nouveau is an approach to design according to which artists should work on everything from architecture to furniture, making art part of everyday life.^[5]

Association football

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball. It is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world.^[1][2][3]

Austria

Austria /ˈɔːstriə/ (help·info) (German: Österreich (help·info)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people^[3] in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,872 square kilometres (32,383 sq mi), and is influenced by a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,797 metres (12,457 ft).^[6] The majority of the population speaks German,^[7] which is also the country's official language.^[1] Other local official languages are Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.^[6]

Autostrasse

The Autostrasse literally means motorroad in English and exists in some European countries, noticeably Austria, and Switzerland, and some others like Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Netherlands, Norway and Finland under another name. The faster equivalent is the Autobahn (motorway). The Autostrasse can also be translated as a semi-motorway.

Béla IV of Hungary

Béla IV (Hungarian: IV. Béla), (29 November 1206 – 3 May 1270), King of Hungary^[1] (1235-1270). Béla was present, at the age of seven, when a group of conspirators killed his mother, and he could never forgive his father's generosity towards the conspirators' accomplices. Shortly afterwards, he was crowned junior king (rex iunior) and he governed several provinces of the Kingdom of Hungary during his father's reign. He endeavoured to restore the royal power that had declined since the death of his grandfather, King Béla, which resulted in permanent conflicts between Béla and his father. When he ascended the throne, he determined to revive his grandfather's internal policy which made him unpopular among his barons. However, he soon had to face the threat of the Mongol invasion of Europe; therefore he granted asylum to the Cumans in order to strengthen his military force. After the Tatar invasion he became one of the most famous Hungarian kings. Nevertheless, the Mongol armies defeated his troops in a decisive battle requiring his escape to the farthest fortress of his kingdom while the Mongols were pillaging the country. When the Mongol troops were withdrawn unexpectedly, Béla returned and commenced reconstruction of his devastated kingdom; he patronized towns, constructed new fortresses and encouraged immigration. His success is reflected by his popular epithet, "the Second Founder of our Country", in Hungary. During the second period of his reign, he proceeded to expand his rule over the neighbouring countries. However his last years were characterized by his permanent conflicts with his eldest son, Stephen.

Badín

Badín (Hungarian: Erdőbábony) is a village and municipality of the Banská Bystrica District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. It is situated 13 km from the town of Banská Bystrica.

Banská Bystrica District

Banská Bystrica District (Slovak: okres Banská Bystrica) is a district in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. Until 1918, the area belonged to the county of Zvolen within the Kingdom of Hungary.

Barbican

A barbican (from medieval Latin barbecana, "outer fortification of a city or castle," a general Romanic word, perhaps from Arabic or Persian cf. bab-khanah "gate-house" and "towered gateway"^[1] or from the mediaeval English burgh-kenning ^[2]) is a fortified outpost or gateway, such as an outer defense to a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Usually barbicans were situated outside the main line of defences and connected to the city walls with a walled road called the neck.

Baroque architecture

Baroque architecture, starting in the early 17th century in Italy, took the humanist Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical, theatrical, sculptural fashion, expressing the triumph of absolutist church and state. New architectural concerns for color, light and shade, sculptural values and intensity characterize the Baroque. But whereas the Renaissance drew on the wealth and power of the Italian courts, and was a blend of secular and religious forces, the Baroque was, initially at least, directly linked to the Counter-Reformation, a movement within the Catholic Church to reform itself in response to the Protestant Reformation. The Council of Trent (1545–1563) is usually given as the beginning of the Counter-Reformation.

Bastion

A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall (termed curtain), facilitating active defense against assaulting troops. It allows the defenders of the fort to cover adjacent bastions and curtains with defensive fire.

Bourgeoisie

In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie (adjective: bourgeois) describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late medieval to early modern period, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes, and derived social and economic power from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from social classes whose power came from being born into an aristocratic family of titled land owners granted feudal privileges by the monarch. The bourgeoisie emerged from late feudal and early modern towns, through the control of long distance trade and petty manufacture. Bourgeois and bourgeoisie originate in the French language, meaning "city-dweller" (from bourg, cf. German Burg).

Bratislava

Bratislava (German: Pressburg, Hungarian: Pozsony) is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city.^[1] Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries,^[2] and it and Vienna are the two European national capitals closest to one another, at less than 60 kilometres (37 mi) apart.

Bubonic plague

Bubonic plague is the best known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as Pasteurella pestis). It belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae. The term "bubonic plague" was often used synonymously for plague, but it does in fact refer specifically to an infection that enters through the skin and travels through the lymphatics, as is often seen in flea-borne infections. Bubonic plague kills about half of infected patients in 3–7 days without treatment, and may be the Black Death that swept through Europe in the 1340s, killing tens of millions.^[1]

Budva

Budva (Serbian: Будва, Budva; Italian: Budua, Greek Βοδοα, Vòdhoa) is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and is a centre of Budva municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budvanska rivijera, is the centre of Montenegro's tourism, and is well known for its sandy beaches, diverse nightlife, and beautiful examples of Mediterranean architecture.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria (pronounced /bʌlˈɡɛəriə/ ( listen); Bulgarian: България, Bălgariya, pronounced [bəlˈɡarija]), officially the Republic of Bulgaria (Република България, Republika Bălgariya, [rɛˈpublika bəlˈɡarija]), is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north (mostly along the River Danube), Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. The Black Sea defines the extent of the country to the east.

Bus

A bus (archaically also omnibus, multibus, or autobus) is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses vary in capacity from 8^{[not in citation given]} to 300 passengers.^[1] Buses are widely used public transportation.

Butcher

A butcher is someone who prepares various cuts of meat and other related goods for sale. Many butchers sell their goods in specialized stores, although in the Western world today most meat is sold through supermarkets.

Carpathian Germans

Carpathian Germans (German: Karpatendeutsche, Hungarian: Felvidéki németek, Slovak: Karpatskí Nemci), sometimes simply called Slovak Germans (German: Slowakeideutsche), is the name for a group of German language speakers on the territory of present-day Slovakia. The term was coined by the historian Raimund Friedrich Kaindl, and is also sometimes used to refer to Germans in the Carpathian Ruthenia.